Friday, February 19th, 2021
Stephan: Today if you. have been watching the news you have certainly seen stories about who or what is responsible for the utterly avoidable disaster that has befallen Texas. I listened and read particularly the Fox world fantasy media, and was struck by the lies and complete fabrications of the Republican officials, starting with Greg Abbott, the governor. At the same time, I kept going back to the amazing Perseverance Mission to Mars, and its success. The contrast was glaring. First, Abbott tried to blame wind and solar, despite the reality that alternatives constitute a lesser fraction of power generation in Texas. Then came the clarification when it became undeniable that the government's story was a fantasy. The fact is Texas is in the situation it finds itself in because the people of Texas voted into office incompetent ideologues, and they are now reaping the fruits of that choice, and the rest of us are watching a kind of Three Stooges movie about how the Republicans deal with climate change. we can only hope the citizens of the other Red value states observe and learn.
Wind turbines in Texas have been targeted by state officials after a freezing winter storm knocked out power supplies to millions of homes.
Temperatures in the state fell as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week, causing widespread disruption. Thermal energy sources, including gas, coal and nuclear energy were all affected due in part to frozen instruments.
But it was wind turbines which drew the attention of Sid Miller, Texas’s Commissioner of Agriculture. He said in a Facebook post Tuesday: “We should never build another wind turbine in Texas. The experiment failed big time. Governor Abbott’s Public Utility Commission appointees need to be fired and more gas, coal and oil infrastructure built.”
Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw said on Twitter that same day: “This is what happens when you force the grid to rely in part on wind as a power source. When weather conditions get as bad as they did this week, intermittent renewable energy like wind isn’t there when you need it.”
However, Texas generates most of its energy from other sources including natural gas—a fossil fuel which […]
Back in the 70’s I bought a nice rust free southern car (not exposed to road salt like they use here in winter). I was surprised to find out that my southern car had no heater?
In NY we have brutal winters. All houses (and cars) have systems to overcome the coldest weather. Most homes use natural gas. We also have ample snow removal equipment. I feel great sorrow for the people of TX who are suffering right now. They probably have low power backup electric heating systems which are useless much below 40F. And now they no power to operate them anyway. And THAT is their own fault! I believe it is BECAUSE they listened to liberal Democrat proponents of “alternative energy” and rely on wind mills for 25% of their electricity. In an attempt to “green up” they have shot themselves in the foot! For an energy rich state like TX THAT is ridiculous! They should be generating power with the natural gas and oil they produce locally. Windmills are fine for windy places with no other options. So called “fossil fuels” are misnamed. Geological science proved long ago that crude oil and natural gas are produced by naturally occurring processes deep within the earth. “Fossil fuels” are not finite pools of decaying dinosaurs that will eventually be depleted. And while I truly believe that research for alternatives must be strongly supported, we are NOWHERE NEAR being able to eliminate what we use now. Until we have safe clean near 100% efficient fusion or antimatter reactors to produce the ever increasing volume of electric power we need. And what is happening in TX validates that!
Excellent acknowledgement of room for growth! Always room to transmute negative feedback into positive outlook. You made it look easy, well done!
Working in the Arctic and not in TX! … In other words, an incomplete system was installed. If you’re going to install something, it pays to go all the way. Interesting that so little is being said about the natural gas system failure.
According to The Texas Tribune and other state media: By some estimates, nearly half of the state’s natural gas production has screeched to a halt due to the extremely low temperatures, while freezing components at natural gas-fired power plants have forced some operators to shut down.
“Texas is a gas state,” said Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin. While he said all of Texas’ energy sources share blame for the power crisis — at least one nuclear power plant has partially shut down, most notably — the natural gas industry is producing significantly less power than normal.
Thanks much for sharing natural gas issues. Geothermal energy is protected by earth layers. It would be nice to have further investment within alternative energy budget.